Losing Ground

This paper examines 15 years of income inequality for families raising children in Ontario (2000 to 2015), comparing it with national data for context, and finds several disturbing trends. The data reveal that Ontario is becoming more polarized as middle and working class families see their share of the income pie shrinking while upper middle and rich families take home even more. Specifically, the bottom half of families raising children in Ontario saw its share of earnings fall to 19% of total labour market income between 2000 and 2015—down three percentage points—while the top half of families increased its share of the income pie by three percentage points, earning 81 per cent of the total income pie. The Ontario story stands in contrast to the national story, where the natural resource boom and economic growth in other provinces translated into real average income gains for practically all Canadian families.

TORONTO – Ontario is becoming more polarized as the bottom half of Ontario families see their share of the income pie shrinking while the top half takes home even more, says a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).